Remote fuel level readings have become a new factor in the pursuit of optimized truckload routing.

In May, SSI Technologies, Janesville, Wis., introduced its Acu-trac fuel monitoring sensor for the heavy truck industry. Mounted inside a fuel tank, the sensor uses acoustic technology to measure fuel levels. It sends the information to remote computers over mobile communications systems such as Qualcomm’s OmniTRACS.
Last week, Logistics.com, Burlington, Mass., announced it had factored Acu-trac data into the fuel routing software portion of its OptiYield software suite. The resulting module is called Fuel&Route.
According to Matt Waterman, OptiYield product manager for Logistics.com, the automated readings are more accurate than driver-entered data. The readings can be used to gather state fuel tax data, but Logistics.com was more interested in saving fuel dollars.
“We’re pulling information in from OPIS (Oil Price Information Service) and we’re also reading in a customer’s own fuel network and their negotiated rates. Then as trucks are loaded and dispatched, we generate a route based on the current fuel prices, on driver preferences and load requirements.”
The accurate fuel data enables sophisticated optimization.
“We make sure we don’t get cheap fuel and then deliver a load late. We’re taking into consideration out-of-route miles and many different cost factors,” said Waterman.
“Depending on the usage level, we’ll see savings anywhere from a penny per mile up -- somewhere between 5 to 7 cents a gallon on average.”
Waterman said Fuel&Route is a new name for software first introduced in 1997. Then it was called OptiStop.
Now, he said, Fuel&Route is delivered by Logistics.com as an ASP (Application Service Provider), meaning the software runs on their servers and the results -- truck routes in this case -- are delivered over the Internet or other network. The SSI hardware has sharpened the software’s edge, making it more efficient.
According to Waterman, Logistics.com has 20 big fleet customers now using Fuel&Route.
“We’re looking at continually moving down the market to get into smaller carriers and eventually to individual owner-operators,” said Waterman.